"Les Fils Du Metal" (the sons of Metal) are alive! Satan Jokers, with a new original line-up is back this year to release a new album, 24 years after their last effort "III". Don't believe that it's a real re-formation but more the project of their drummer Renaud Hantson who decided to resurrect the name of his first combo. The nostalgic should be happy one of the most famous Metal acts is back and they shouldn't be disoriented, because it seems that we're still in the 80's…

It's always really good to see the reformation of a legendary band like Satan Jokers and when you have a look at the line up, it can only be promising (Hantson for the vocals, Pascal Mulot for the bass and Marc Varez (ex-Vulcain) on the drums...). Of course this time, this is only Renaud Hantson who manages the whole business but it doesn't mean that it's a bad thing, at the opposite our guy doesn't have to prove anything new and his last work with his other Metal band Furious Zoo was cool so why not? Well if you're a fan of Satan Jokers, you'll probably like the old school aspect of this new release. "SJ" smells the good old Hard FM with its good like bad sides… The good points come from the really cool melodic riffs and choruses, the bad points come from the lyrics (in French) which are a bit cliché and some choruses which clearly lack of energy and sound too Pop for me. The problem with this release is that it's a bit outdated for me. Sure the job is well done and the technical parts are excellent, but some songs are just "too much"…

If the compositions are not so bad, the interpretation is just excellent. Hantson proves one more time that he is a great singer and that his band mates are just topnotch. There are little soli everywhere the riffs and rhythmic is classy, no really "SJ" is a good release which only suffers of the fact that we're in the 00's now and a ton of other bands have created new musical genres and Satan Jokers seems to be out of this scene… I think that the guys wanted to do something "old" too and that's ok because after all it was not a good idea to try to create something "modern" under this name but I doubt that they will find new fans too, let's be honest…

I won't fall into the state of euphoria that we can see in a lot of French magazines. Yes Satan Jokers is back and yes this is a good come back but this is not the best release that we can listen to coming from a French band this year. If you're a nostalgic who still live in the 80's, "SJ" will be a nice way to bring back some good memories but if you think that Satan Jokers will surprise you this time, I'm sorry to tell you that you'll not be surprised… Well at least they're still loyal to what they've done in the past and after all, that's maybe the best thing that they had to do…